Fred / YMMV - TV Tropes

Broken Base: When it came to the original Fred videos, people either loved them or hated them, with generally no in-between.
Condemned by History:
- Despite being the very first YouTuber to hit 1 million subscribers, many do not remember him fondly, in no small part due to the critical backlash of the Nickelodeon Fred TV movies. It doesn't help that series creator Lucas Cruikshank himself grew just as annoyed with the character as anyone else. He retired Fred in 2012 and tried to move past the character, but his post-Fred projects flopped critically and commercially.
- Attempted to be avoided by Quinton Reviews in his retrospective on the Fred character and franchise (The Reign of Fred Figglehorn), where he finds the Fred phenomenon more fascinating and, while there are things that he found that aren't good at all, he had a good time overall revisiting Fred and re-evaluating him and the franchise as he did. Lucas even sent him a message after it came out praising the retrospective, saying he put a lot of work into it.
Ensemble Dark Horse: Fred's dad, played by John Cena in the movie is considered by most to be the best part of the movie. Some consider him to be the only good part of the movie.
Fan-Preferred Couple: A lot of Fred fans were disappointed Fred ended up with Judy in the end and not Bertha. Incidentally there were four endings written for the movie, one of which being Fred and Bertha becoming a couple.
He Really Can Act: In hindsight, the Fred movies were the first hint that John Cena is a really good comedic actor, a few years before Trainwreck cemented it.
Hype Backlash: Fred was one of the most-subscribed channels on YouTube, but had lots of vocal critics. The first movie also received a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Memetic Molester: Mr. Devlin. MikeJ's reaction to Devlin inviting Fred to his house ("Is Fred going to be molested?) is very accurate, as that's eerily how the scene plays.
Memetic Mutation:
- Comparing the first Fred movie to Joker (2019) briefly became a fad in late 2020. The joke came from the movies' surprisingly similar story structures, as both movies feature an unreliable and mentally unbalanced main character with a neglectful mother and a Disappeared Dad, all while having an imaginary relationship with a girl who barely knows them. Some even went as far as to claim that Joker (2019) was actually a Spiritual Successor to Fred, or even a Darker and Edgier Stealth Sequel that deconstructs the Fred persona.
- This eventually culminated on a fan project based on ERB making an official fight between Fred and Fleck.
- "OH MY GOD ITS WEEZER! AAAAAA-"^note
Moment of Awesome: Fred leading his camp to victory in the third movie. Particularly the 'Loser Song' moment at the end. And unlike several, this was not a Daydream Surprise.
Nightmare Fuel: In later episodes, Fred is harassed by an extremely creepy man named Claudio. In Fred Gets Kidnapped by Claudio, he is introduced by randomly breaking into Fred's house, kidnapping him, and locking him in a pet carrier, and then when Fred's mother catches Claudio, she allows him to stay because he will pay her, despite the fact that he just kidnapped and caged her son. In the next episode, Fred is Left Alone with Claudio, Fred's mother leaves Fred alone with him and Claudio continues to do more creepy and outright messed-up things to harass Fred.
One-Scene Wonder: John Cena's appearance in the second film was pretty funny, and to many the only funny bit in the movie.
Special Effect Failure: The attempts to pass a teenage actor off as a six year old kid are obvious.
Surprisingly Improved Sequel: Though the first two Fred movies were pretty forgettable, the third is actually considered quite good by the fanbase. Helped that it got a few well known names attached to it.
The Woobie: When Fred's Hilariously Abusive Childhood veers into especially traumatic territory, some viewers can't help but feel sorry for him.

YMMV / Fred

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